The Rain that Binds : The Side Stories
by ilovemybishies87
Summary: All the stories that weren't able to make it into the main story. Expect to see more of a focus on other pairings such as IchiRuki, IshiHime, NoiHali, etc, as well as more UlquiHime. Chapters ratings will range from K to T.
1. Twisted Emotions

Title: The Rain that Binds: The Side Stories  
Chapter title: Twisted Emotions  
Characters: Ulquiorra, Orihime  
Rating: K+  
Spoilers: Up to chapter 282 of the manga  
Word count: 1,523

A/N: Wow, I wasn't really planning on putting up the side stories until I had finished with the main story, but…this was begging to be written, so here it is. This is set…er…sometime after Ulquiorra starts calling Orihime by her name.

Before anyone points out, I **know** there is a tense change. It was done for effect.

* * *

Orihime stared out the window, watching the rain trail down the windowpane, and yawned loudly. It was really boring being stuck in her apartment for the whole day with absolutely nothing to do. She had already finished up all her homework for the weekend, and she couldn't go out because it was pouring outside, on top of the fact that she didn't have any money. Twirling a strand of hair around her finger, she spared a glance at the green eyed Arrancar who was currently sitting on the other side of the room, reading one of the books from her bookshelf for the fifth time since he had started living with her. Not that she had been counting or anything. She let a loud, drawn out sigh, hoping to gain the attention of her companion. It didn't. 

" Hey, Ulquiorra? Doesn't it get boring reading the same book over and over and over again? I mean, how can reading that math book still be interesting after reading it that many times?" she questioned, her eyes growing wider with each syllable.

He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh, not bothering to look up.

" I am not reading this book for the sake of enjoyment. I am reading to learn from it. Learning is not supposed to be…interesting," he said a bit distastefully.

" I'm bored."

Orihime stared at him, hoping that he would get the drift that she wanted him to relieve some of her boredom. She continued to stare at him for a few more minutes before it became obvious to her that he either didn't hear or he was ignoring her. The latter seemed more likely. Clearing her throat, she decided to try again.

" I said, I'm **bored**," she repeated, a little louder this time.

This time, Ulquiorra spared her a glance before he went back to reading the textbook.

" It sounds as though you desire me to do something to…alleviate this boredom," Ulquiorra stated before he closed the book and put it down on the table in front of him.

She nodded her head enthusiastically while he closed his eyes.

' What am I doing? Am I actually considering doing something for her amusement? Being trapped in here for so long has obviously driven me to some degree of madness,' he decided, his frown deepening.

" Is there anything in particular that you wish to do, Inoue?" asked Ulquiorra, as though he were signing his own death warrant.

Letting out a small squeal of happiness, she skipped to the side of the room that he was currently sitting, while he rubbed his temples. She looked through a different bookshelf, this one loaded with boxes of different shapes, sizes and colors. He glanced at them and read some of the titles in his head, becoming more and more confused.

' Monopoly? Life? Scrabble? Trouble?? When did these humans learn to contain trouble into a small box? Humans are nothing **but** trouble,' he thought wearily, noticing that Orihime had taken a box from the shelf and was currently pushing it into his hands.

" Here! Let's play this game! It's a lot of fun! Oh, but we have to move the table first. We wouldn't want to fall into it or anything," she said, pushing the table to a far corner of the room and laying out the mat onto the floor.

Still holding the box in his hands, he could only say one thing in response:

" Twister?"

She let out a giggle, holding the spinner in her hands. She waved her hands in a way to indicate that he should stand up. After Ulquiorra did so, he looked at her, hoping that she would answer his question.

" Yeah! It's fun, I promise. Here's what you do. See this spinner?" she asked, seeing him nod slightly. " Ok. Well, you flick the spinner like so and wait for it to stop to see where it lands. Here! I'll show you!"

Orihime flicked the needle lightly, watching it spin a few times before it stopped.

" See? It landed on right foot red, which means I have to put my right foot on red," she said, placing her foot on the appropriate dot. " Here. Now you try it!"

Ulquiorra took the spinner her from her hands and looked at it wearily before flicking it, although much harder than she had. It had spun around at least seven times before it finally stopped.

" So, now what you have to do is put your left foot on a green dot!"

" Why? Because some inanimate object demands that I put my left foot on green, I have to do so?" he asked, staring at the mat and the spinner with disdain.

" Because that's part of the game! Come on! Let's at least get through a few more spins before you decide you don't like it. Please?" Orihime pleaded, a hopeful smile on her face.

Closing his eyes and letting out a long sigh, Ulquiorra begrudgingly put his left foot on a green dot as far away as possible from her and slid the spinner over to her. She flicked it. This time, she got right hand green. Stretching over to reach the other side of the mat, she handed the spinner over to him. He flicked the needle and the spinner landed on right foot yellow. A toss. A flick. Left foot yellow. A slide of the spinner and another flick. Right hand red. Flick. Left hand blue.

After she placed her hand on a blue dot, the one that was diagonally in front of his left foot, it was his turn again. He flicked the needle awkwardly, trying not to fall.

'What kind of sadistic human would invent something like this and then have the **nerve** to call it a game?' he thought irritably, his right arm starting to feel a bit numb.

The spinner slowed and stopped on left hand blue. He looked in front of him and saw a blue dot that would allow him to keep a fairly good center of balance. He started to move his hand but stopped. Ulquiorra felt himself become warm when he saw that, if he decided to put his hand on that spot, his arm would be rubbing right up against Orihime's chest. His eyes widened while he tried to think of a solution. He looked at the other blue dots on the mat and found that any of the others had the same issue; the only blue dot that didn't would have him in a very trying position, something he refused to do. That left him with two choices:

' Over or under?' he thought, figuring out which would yield the least amount of body contact.

Ulquiorra ran this through his mind again and again until he decided that over would be a **much** better option than under. He moved his left hand and placed it awkwardly on the dot, attempting to keep his chest off her back as much as possible… and failing. He could feel her warmth through his clothes and felt her reach for the spinner. Suddenly, she began talking.

" You know, it's a good thing your mask is on the other side of your head. You could poke an eye out with that! Maybe we should put something over it, you know…just in case?" she suggested. " Left hand green."

Orihime started to move her hand to a green spot while Ulquiorra tried to glare at her. Due to his current position, he was unable to and found himself glaring at her legs instead. He could feel even more warmth, this time in his face, as he began, " Inoue, what are you going on abou- "

He was cut off as he felt himself lose his balance, collapsing to the ground. Both of them were resting on the other's back. They felt their eyes widen and, in Orihime's case, she could feel herself turn a bright red. The two stayed that way for a few moments, blinking; it took a few seconds for their brains to process that they were essentially lying on top of one another. When it finally clicked, they pulled apart from each other as fast as they possibly could, avoiding the other's gaze. Orihime rubbed her arm in discomfort, looking down at the floor, while Ulquiorra looked out the window.

" It is no longer raining," he stated, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes.

" Oh? Well, you've stayed cooped up in this apartment and I really need to get some food anyways," she said quickly, making her way to her bedroom, " Just let me get my coat."

Ignoring the fact that she had just bought food the day before, Ulquiorra grabbed the mat and the spinner and stuffed them into the game box, pushing it under the sofa until he heard the box hit the wall with a light thunk. Taking a seat, he let out a soft sigh.

' I doubt she will miss this game very much anyway…'


	2. The Definition of Friendship

Title: The Rain that Binds: The Side Stories  
Chapter title: The Definition of Friendship  
Characters: Yami, with a little Noitora, Ulquiorra and Aizen  
Rating: K+  
Spoilers: Up to chapter 282 of the manga  
Word Count: 1,007

I know I know! I put up a side story and it's not UlquiHime? Blasphemy, I tell you! (sweatdrop) The next one will be, I promise! Please enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Yami trudged through the halls of Las Noches, his destination clear in his mind. He was headed for Ulquiorra's domain, intent on asking him a few questions about his mission; he failed to understand when Aizen had given him his orders. With any luck, he might even get the cuatra Espada to go with him on his mission. He stopped in front of the huge door with a gothic 4 imprinted on it and began to bang on it, the sound echoing off the walls and making his knocks sound louder than they actually were.

" Oi! Ulquiora! I got a mission from Aizen-sama and there are some things I don't understand! OPEN THIS DOOR SO I CAN COME IN, DAMN IT!" Yami yelled while he continued to pound on the door.

" What the hell is all this rukus for?" Noitra demanded, a hand covering his left ear and wincing at the noise slightly. He noticed Yami standing outside Ulquiorra's door and his grin widened, causing Yami to frown. He knew that a happy or amused Noitora was **never** a good thing.

" Yami, why are you doing here, you idiot?" Noitora started, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning in menacingly.

" None of your damn business, Noitora," Yami stated, turning away from the quinta Espada and returning his gaze to the door.

The taller Espada let out a condescending chuckle.

" You do remember that Ulquiorra has betrayed us, right Yami?" he said slyly, noticing the other Espada's eyes widen, " Even a slovenly idiot like yourself wouldn't forget that he was the bastard who helped those ryoka and Pet-sama escape from Hueco Mundo…"

"O-of course I wouldn't forget something like that," Yami replied, scratching his head nervously, " As you said, only an idiot would forget something like that."

Noitora nodded slightly, taking pleasure in the other Espada's discomfort.

" As long as we have that straightened out," he agreed, walking around Yami to get to his own domain, adjacent to Ulquiorra's. Yami could hear his chuckling echo off the walls for a few seconds before they disappeared altogether, and he let out a heavy sigh.

" Stupid Noitora," he mumbled as he walked towards his own domain, heavy steps echoing around him, " Even though he's only the quinta Espada, the bastard acts as though he is one of the top Espada."

After a few minutes of walking, he reached his own domain and pushed the heavy door open with ease. He walked in, taking in his surroundings, and walked over to a large chair in a corner of the room. As soon as he sat down, he heard a knock on his door and groaned loudly.

" What the hell is it?" he demanded, seeing the door open slowly and two smaller arrancar poke their heads in. His Fraccion. He didn't really feel the need to have any, but, seeing that everyone else had at least one, decided that having a couple could prove to be useful. At the moment, he was beginning to regret this decision.

" Um…Yami-sama," the one began shakily, not wanting to envoke the Espada's wrath, " Aizen-sama wishes to speak to you again."

"It seems he left out a critical detail pertaining to the mission you received earlier," the other finished cheerfully.

Yami grunted in affirmation and the two closed the door as quietly as possible.

' So that's why I didn't understand that mission,' he thought, happy that, for once, it was not because of his own incompetence.

Standing up, he made his way over to Aizen's throne room. On the way, he passed by Ulquiorra's old domain and stared at the door for a few seconds before he continued on to his destination. Being in the former cuatra Espada's domain made him remember the first few hours after Ulquiorra had brought the human girl to Las Noches.

* * *

_" Oi, Ulquiorra!" he yelled, seeing the head of the significantly shorter Espada turn, "That human girl sure is a weird one, ain't she?"_

_Ulquiorra said nothing. The two were sitting at the table that most of the Espada meetings were held, although no one else was there at that particular moment because they were early. _

_" __She talks about all these weird things, like televisions and hamburgers and stuff. But she seems to go on and on about her 'friends' and their 'friendship' the most," Yami noted, scratching his head, " What exactly does that mean, anyway?"_

" _Which?" Ulquiorra asked, a tone of disinterest tainting his voice._

" _Both."_

" _A 'friend' is a person whom one knows, likes, and trusts," he recited, as though he were reading from a dictionary, " It can also be a person whom one knows, or one whom is allied in a struggle or cause, a comrade. 'Friendship' is the quality or condition of being friends."_

_Yami looked at him blankly for a few minutes, trying to process everything that Ulquiorra had told him. _

"…_Does that make us 'friends'?" he asked uncertainly, pointing towards himself and the cuatra Espada._

" _Of course not," he answered turning away from him as Szayel and Stark entered the room, " Hollows have no need for such foolishness as 'friends' and 'friendship'. In any case, only trash would think that something like 'friends' and 'friendship' exist."_

_Yami nodded, although he wasn't entirely sure he really agreed with all that Ulquiorra had said._

* * *

He sighed heavily at the memory. It confused him, but…it just wasn't the same without Ulquiorra there.

' He was always the more perceptive of the two of us,' he noted as he neared Aizen's domain, ' Even now, I don't think that he was entirely correct about 'friends' and 'friendship' not existing.'

The door to Aizen's throne room opened with a slight creak and he walked inside. Yami looked up and saw him sitting in the throne high above the ground.

' Maybe whatever association we had was the closest that Hollows can have to friendship,' he decided resolutely.


End file.
